Roseman entrusted with Eagles' future

PHILADELPHIA -- Howie Roseman has been the Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager for three seasons, but has been getting paychecks from the organization for nearly as long as Andy Reid.

Three years isn’t a long G.M. tenure, but it’s as long or longer than plenty of men who have held and lost that title over the years. It offers a track record, one of which owner Jeff Lurie claims he has taken note.

When the Eagles finished a 4-12 season with a 42-7 butt-whupping at the hands of the Giants Sunday, it put the finishing touches on a decision Jeff Lurie essentially knew was coming since Thanksgiving: Reid’s goose was cooked.

However, as inevitable Lurie considered the demise of the Reid Era to be, he was equally certain that Roseman should be spared.

Why?“A lot of analysis has taken place over the last 12 months,” Lurie said Monday during a 32-minute press conference, “and the information hasn’t been reported properly because it hasn’t been communicated properly.

“What I had to do was look at the 2010, 2011, 2012 drafts and offseasons. I really wanted to evaluate everything ... and I came to the conclusion that the person who was providing by far the best talent evaluation in the building was Howie Roseman.”

According to Lurie -- and confirmed by Roseman -- after two years of having a front office run in a very legislative style in 2010-11, the owner made a decision following the 2011 season to “streamline” the process and give Roseman far more say in personnel matters. And in Lurie’s opinion, most of the moves responsible for this season were due to personnel choices made before Roseman had that pull -- and were not moves made at his urging.

That seems to take Roseman off the hook for many of the draft failures in 2010 and 2011, when the draft board he developed was markedly different than the one the organization took into the war room and used to make choices like Danny Watkins, Jaiquawn Jarrett and Brandon Graham in the top two rounds.

Lurie said he was “encouraged” by what he saw from the 2012 draft choices. That draft board had a far more striking resemblance to Roseman’s wish list. However, Roseman made it clear that Reid always casted the largest shadow on personnel decisions, even last spring.

“I’ve never had final say in football operations,” Roseman said.“That’s been clear with coach (Reid in power) ... I did not have final say in 2012 ... They gave me an opportunity to lead the process, as opposed to just being a part of the process.”

However, with Reid gone and Roseman staying and joining Lurie in the process for finding a new coach makes this clear: Roseman no longer has someone of greater tenure tamping his opinion when it comes to personnel choices. While Lurie stressed that the next head coach will report directly to him about team matters, the fact that Roseman remains after a 4-12 season underscores the G.M.’s clout -- for now.

“Listen, our season we just went through, it’s unacceptable,” Roseman said. “Whatever has happened here, it’s not good enough for the fans. We’re not happy about it, we’re not happy about the chemistry of the team. I’m not going to shirk the responsibility. It’s going to stop ... We are going to get to the bottom of the things that didn’t work, and we’re going to get better.”

Roseman’s first job in the post-Andy Reid era was to meet with players Monday morning, during which he grilled them about the chemistry issues both he and several players mentioned as catalysts for the 4-12 debacle.

“They felt like we needed to have guys who felt better about everyone around them,” Roseman said of his chats with players. “That’s going to be a goal of ours. We want to put together guys who really love to play together and have each other’s back.

“A lot of these players are hurting. For a lot of them, all they know is Andy and the coaches we have here. So, for them and me, you’re talking about someone who had a big impact on their lives. When they look back at it, they want to make sure they don’t feel like this again.

“Nobody thought we had bad people, getting in trouble off the field. Sometimes people just don’t fit together perfectly ... But again, you’re 4-12. It’s not just chemistry.”

It’s a chemistry that must be fixed, and Roseman has been entrusted with the power to get that done, starting with the search for Reid’s replacement.